Self-calibration of Unattended Ground Sensor Networks

We present an algorithm for locating and orienting a set of acoustic arrays that have been deployed in a scene at unknown locations and orientation angles. This self-calibration problem is solved using a number of source signals also deployed in the scene. We assume each array can estimate the time-of-arrival and direction-of-arrival (with respect to the array’s local orientation coordinates) of every source. From this information we compute the array locations and orientations. We consider four subproblems, in which the source signals or emission times are either known or unknown. We develop necessary conditions for solving the self-calibration problem, and provide a maximum likelihood solution and corresponding location error estimate.